Yuja Wang

RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 2 / Wang, Abbado 4779308

. . . [this recording of Rachmaninov favorites] is more than the feel-good piano album of the year. Much of this is due to Claudio Abbado, who has been a searching interpreter of Russian music for several decades: he brings out the composer's Romantic fervor not only with persuasive melodic shaping but with a complete mastery of pacing, elastic rhythm, and orchestral color . . .

Concert Review /
Russel Platt,
New Yorker / 05. October 2011

She tackles the popular "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No 2" with an ease that betrays her deep familiarity with the material . . . [it's the confident way she deals with the challenging "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini"] that most impresses here . . . It's all handled with industrious grace by Wang.

Record Review /
Andy Gill,
Independent (London) / 11. March 2011

[Rachmaninoff¿s Second Piano Concerto] here sounds surprisingly poised and clear. There is none of the wretched excess of emotion and wallowing indulgence that the dramatically grandiose themes seem to invite. Instead, Wang and Abbado offer a well-balanced reading that gives the concerto clean, almost neoclassical lines . . . The Mahler Chamber Orchestra sounds rich and full, and its brass section cuts through the lush strings with bright and plangent tones. Wang's pianism is large-scale, and this very fine recording helps bring out the balance between solo instrument and orchestra . . . The finale is never less than thrilling . . . Wang's fine combination of bravado and restraint serves the concerto.

Record Review /
Mark J. Estren,
Washington Post / 19. March 2011

. . . performances are intelligent, stylish, and have the emotional poise of the composer's own recordings. Often, Wang begins her musical arcs quietly, the better to build a long, gratifying line of thought.

. . . what you hear is independent of time . . . Anchored in the regal security of Claudio Abbado's Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Yuja makes the individual notes cascade like pearls, stretches the space between them just at the edge of what is perceptible, and "sings" with a legato that's the domain of only masters of lieder . . . [the most famous variation XVIII] is dreamy and meltingly lyrical, yet kept within the discipline and good taste that¿s the hallmark of both conductor and pianist . . . [Piano Concerto no. 2]: Her arpeggios are full and strong. Abbado and the orchestra are leaders, followers -- partners in music-making of the highest order . . . there is balance here and the right sound between excess and holding back too much.

. . . both these performances shed fresh light on two of Rachmaninov's best-known pieces . . . a playful and scintillating version of the "Paganini Rhapsody", time allowed for placing details meaningfully and to vividly characterise each of Rachmaninov's commentaries on the so-familiar Paganini tune . . . a very engaging performance notable for not rushing the music but for relishing its colours and modulations, with Yuja Wang very much part of the whole but playing with plenty of personality, too. Abbado ensures that Rachmaninov's scoring seems new-minted with some enthusiastic and polished playing. This poetic and vibrant account is very welcome . . . [Piano Concerto]: a flowing interpretation free from wallowing and sentimentality but aflame with inner passion . . . Wang's subtlety is welcome, so too her directness, underpinned by a flawless technique, Abbado and his musicians caught up in a flexible and lively performance free from ennui . . . in the slower music Rachmaninov's soul is revealed without mawkishness, the central Adagio given as an expressive reverie, rather confidentially, yet with heart-beating fluctuations. The finale, its melodic contours beautifully moulded, also enjoys some exciting impetus . . . some wonderfully crisp playing from Yuja Wang . . .

Record Review /
Colin Anderson,
Classicalsource.com / 23. March 2011

[The recording] originally meets the eye, since the artists' unsentimental but plastic approach infuses a generously sympathetic hue to the project . . . The expansive collaboration between Wang and Abbado permits a casual endearing look at each of the twenty-four variations . . . Wang and Abbado take the "Scherzando finale" at a delicious pace, exuberantly enjoying the playful and audacious figures as they move busily through a series of roller-coaster energies . . . [The "C Minor Concerto"] manages to avoid hyper-emotional clichés without sacrificing its innately lush melancholy [a] sober but passionate deliberation with which the principals execute the piece . . . Wang's impeccable technique and tonal beauty certainly aid in pouring this old wine into a new bottle . . . the spins and gyrations become quite beguiling, while Abbado injects his own potent impetus into the mix. A disarming lovely set of Rachmaninov works, beautifully played and gorgeously recorded courtesy of engineer Stephan Flock.

Record Review /
Gary Lemco,
Audiophile Audition / 19. April 2011

The young Chinese American virtuoso Yuja Wang has established her place as one of the most exciting pianists of our day with a series of formidable solo discs. Now comes her first release with orchestra ¿ a pairing of two of Rachmaninoff's most reliably alluring showpieces ¿ and the results are, if anything, even more remarkable. These are both splendid performances, full of vigor and bravura as well as a canny mixture of sentiment and clarity. Some credit has to go to conductor Claudio Abbado, who elicits warm and flexible playing from the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and coordinates the relations between orchestra and soloist beautifully. But Wang is the star, and she responds with her characteristic blend of elegance and depth. The virtuosic passages in both works emerge with dazzling precision and wit, made all the more impressive by Wang's deceptively offhand demeanor, while the more lyrically expansive sections ¿ particularly the great 17th variation of the rhapsody and the slow movement of the concerto ¿ come through in all their emotional fervor.

Yuja Wang is certainly grounded in Rachmaninoff . . . this young Chinese pianist has a very Russian soul.

Record Review /
Julie Amacher,
Minnesota Public Radio / 25. April 2011

She makes us hear this hoariest of Romantic war-horses afresh, as if with cleaned ears: the work emerges as almost classical, Mozartian even, in poise and architecture. There isn't an iota of indulgence or gratuitous emotion, yet neither is there any lack of force or genuine passion wherever required. Wang is aided by Abbado's masterly direction of the orchestra, and a crystal-clear recording which allows us to hear much usually-masked woodwind detail, and the detailed inner voices within Rachmaninov's keyboard writing. The storm of audience applause is well-merited. The "Paganini Rhapsody" is no less satisfying, both mesmerising and superbly controlled, with loving attention to detail . . . this new issue is quite special.

This petite 24-year-old turns out to be a powerhouse! Undaunted by the challenges of this repertoire, her articulate and precise style brings a freshness and wit to these pieces without compromising the emotional breadth of Rachmaninov's music. Her intelligent crafting of the variations turns the Rhapsody into a bonus concerto, but it's her superb skill and artistry which shines through. There's always room for a first class recording of even the most popular pieces ¿ and this is just that. The revealing Rhapsody deserves top billing, but the Second Piano Concerto has moments of exquisite tenderness.

Record Review /
Jane Jones,
Classic FM (London) / 04. May 2011

Every new release by this marvelously gifted pianist is eagerly anticipated . . . The technical demands of the Rhapsody (Variation 24 for example) hold no terrors for her, of course, and her trademark impetuosity, which she injects into the bravura variations, is thrilling. But, more importantly, she is also an artist with that unteachable ability to tug at the emotions without recourse to sentimentality, as her playing of the famous Variation 23 beautifully illustrates.

Record Review /
Jeremy Nicholas,
Gramophone (London) / 01. June 2011

Our hats are off to this stellar young pianist for reinvigorating two repertoire warhorses . . .

Record Review /
Amanda MacBlane,
Time Out (New York) / 11. December 2011

Our hats are off to this stellar young pianist for reinvigorating two repertoire warhorses, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 and "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini".

Record Review /
Amanda MacBlane,
Time Out (New York) / 11. December 2011